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Sata wire question

B

brinjin

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 2, 2002
Messages
418
Hi I just ordered my first SATA HD and it only included the wire that connects the drive to the motherboard. Do SATA drives draw their power off the board through this wire? Or do I need to go buy a seperate adapter to connect it to the power supply?
 
SATA drives use a different power connector than regular HDs. It's kind of flat and a little smaller than a regular molex connector. You'll have to buy a Molex -> SATA power connector so that you can use the drive.

Here's what the converters look like. You can probably find them for cheaper in a local comp store or elsewhere online. This is just for reference.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=12-105-008&depa=0
 
You need a SATA Power Adapter. If you look on your SATA drive, it has a thin kinda long connector. That is your power.
 
not all SATA drives require this

WD and Maxtor drives still have the old molex power connector as well.

This is only for Seagate and maybe WD Rapters that you will need that adapter

and that SATA "wire" is a cable. It consists of several wires, I beleive 7.
 
Out of curiosity, why did you post this in this forum and not data storage?
 
Is a SATA cable any different from an IDE one? Cause i've seen some cables for sale that boast being compatible with ATA133 and EIDE...
 
Originally posted by M4d-K10wN
Is a SATA cable any different from an IDE one? Cause i've seen some cables for sale that boast being compatible with ATA133 and EIDE...
Click to expand...
use google. or use newegg

look at pictures of the cable. defintelly not the same.
 
While we're on the topic, why DID they make that new connector? Looking at it, the only thing I can think of is some hot-swappable RAID thing but I don't know why a regular 4-pin molex fixed in place couldn't perform a similar function.
 
Originally posted by SuperSubZero
While we're on the topic, why DID they make that new connector? Looking at it, the only thing I can think of is some hot-swappable RAID thing but I don't know why a regular 4-pin molex fixed in place couldn't perform a similar function.
Click to expand...
several reasons off the top of my head but you should probably look for a review, and or check out serialata.org

cost. controllers can use much fewer pins

speed. and other features such as command queuing.

airflow, a reason I imagine intel greatly pushed for like the BTX form factor

both the SATA power connector and the data connector have a special pin layout. the GND pins reach out longer so that they make connection long before the other pins. making it much better for hotswappable capability.
 
The power connector was the focus of my question.. The data cable speaks for itself. 8)

The hot-swappable thing was what I figured as well. But I am still not sure why they couldn't just make a harness (like the adapters only built into the case) so power supply makers wouldn't need to start putting SATA power connectors on their PSU's.. I guess I just like things standard. This way they just add more and more cables.
 
I just bought a new model of a 7200 80GB SATA WD drive a few weeks ago and it still had regular molex power connectors. I had to buy a data cable for it though, $7.50 at a local shop.
 
The fortron 530's i've been buying have SATA HD power connectors, but only one,

I've switched my 2 WD 36 gig raptors for 2 160gig SATA seagates, quieter.

In sisoft i score 94 with the seagates compared to 95 with the raptors.

I just got in a pair of 74 gig Raptors for some fun.
 
Originally posted by Staples
I just bought a new model of a 7200 80GB SATA WD drive a few weeks ago and it still had regular molex power connectors. I had to buy a data cable for it though, $7.50 at a local shop.
Click to expand...
yup yup, my maxtors have the old molex connectors as well.

WD regular drives and maxtor have both power connector.
Seagate and WD rapter have SATA power only
 
Originally posted by Menelmarar
yup yup, my maxtors have the old molex connectors as well.

WD regular drives and maxtor have both power connector.
Seagate and WD rapter have SATA power only
Click to expand...

WD Raptors have both power connectors...I am using the molex on my 74GB right now.
 
Originally posted by forcemac101
WD Raptors have both power connectors...I am using the molex on my 74GB right now.
Click to expand...
then i am mistaken. thx. didn't think they did
 
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